Congress has truly lost its way

Posted
Tuesday, September 26, 2017 8:30 pm

By Tony Farkas
tony.farkas@madisonvillemeteor.com

In yet another attempt to make themselves acceptable to the common man and to seem like they’re keeping campaign promises, the Senate is taking another stab at health care with the Graham Cassidy bill, hoping to replace the failed Affordable Care Act.

A far cry from the repeal that was first promise, the new bill essentially is Congress’ shot at something, but we’re not sure what. One thing for sure, though, is that government will still have its hands around 18 percent of the national economy.

There is no real reason for the federal government to continue the charade of trying to make health care affordable, as Obamacare and this latest mishmash claims it will do. The fixes are now, and will be, best accomplished by the free market.

As you can see, though, that won’t be allowed.

It’s easy to lay this at the feet of President Donald Trump, because he’s been quite vocal about getting rid of Obamacare. But he’s not the problem. The problem is Congress.

Both houses of that august body have become so enmeshed in their own elitist club that they’ve lost their way.

Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who co-authored the bill, was making the talk show circuits the other day talking to any and every person who would listen about his latest accomplishment.

Two things became immediately apparent: Congress isn’t serious, and no one has any good ideas.

Cassidy was telling the talk show host that there are things in his own bill he does not like, but was claiming that taking the bad with the good will at least move the ball forward.

How noble. We’ll replace a garbage bill with another bill that is equally garbage, but with a different smell, and we’ll claim we did something. That in itself is a problem, but it also shows that Republicans have decided not to do the right thing, and will roll over in an effort to keep themselves in office.

Democrats, on the other hand, won’t care about any changes, even though Obamacare is an unmitigated failure.

If there is to be any real change in Washington, it has to start with a changing of the guard. More than just electing a president with a penchant for antagonism, the halls of Congress need to be swept clean of the entrenched bureaucracy that is responsible for the laws that keep getting foisted on Americans.

That, of course, means that at some point, Americans will need to start ensuring their own futures, and not relying on the government to solve all the problems. That wave started, I believe, with last year’s election, and hopefully it will continue to grow.

Soon, it will crash on the halls of Congress, and wipe it clean of ineffective and selfish leaders.